The Joe Evans Adventure
by TheBetterPoison
Summary: Joseph Evans knows his parents almost didn't stay together. But they won't say why and he wants some answers. After a little digging through McKinley yearbooks & some quick planning, he has ventured back to Lima, Ohio, February 2012 to find out.
1. Chapter 1

He knew this was completely dangerous. The technology for time travel had its glitches. But he had to do it—he had to know why he almost never came to be. It was something neither his mother nor father ever held an interest in talking about. "_It doesn't matter now, baby—what matters is that we did find our way back to each other_." That was always his mom's response. "_It's all in the past, Son_," his dad would always say, without giving indication as to when that other day would come. His fears of time travel were eased by the fact that his friends, Rory and Sugar would already be there, so maybe they would be able help him out before they all returned to the present together. Just as long as all three of them remembered to erase their parents' memories of them before they returned, then they should all be okay.

With a duffle bag-full of clothes, toiletries, money, a few helpful devices from his time and a folded photo of his family, he stepped up to the bulky, metallic machine. After finding the keypad, he dialed in the month of February, the year 2012 and finally, the location: Lima, Ohio. After punching "enter", he heard the machine begin to give its warning beeps while a whirring noise started to crescendo beneath his feet. His hazel green eyes looked around the interior of the box as he stepped inside of it, clenched his jaw and took a few deep breaths while waiting for that uncontrollable yanking feeling his friends would always describe to him.

_Beep, beep, beeeeeep_!

In a flash, he vanished from the inner chambers of the machine. The descriptions of what time travel felt like was nothing compared to the actual experience. An invisible cluster of strong hands yanked at your every appendage, forcing the air out of your lungs while pulling you rapidly into the past. And just when the feeling of breathlessness started bearing down on him, his feet slammed down on the hard, compacted earth. He lost his balance from the landing and stumbled forward—gaining no favors from the bulky duffle at his hip—but just before he could fall, he instinctively stuck out his hand. To his relief, his hand pressed against something oddly soft and fleshy like, yet it was firm enough to keep him standing. Next, he lowered his hand away and looked up to see what, or who had broken his fall.

Almost immediately, blood rushed up to his cheeks and ears. He was staring down at the mortified face of none other than his mother, Mercedes Jones. He absolutely dreaded the thought of just where his hand had previously been. Gauging the disrespected look on her face, he had some idea of what to expect next.

"…Do I need to tell you how rude that was?" she asked in a sharp tone that was all too familiar to him.

He definitely hadn't prepared to run into anyone familiar so soon, and it showed as he stammered for a response. "Uh…I-uh… didn't mean to?"

Mercedes put her hands on her hips while arching an incredulous brow at him.

"Really! I didn't," he said in a tone that begged for her to believe him. While he stared nervously, his eyes were also taking in his mom's youthful appearance. He had seen plenty of pictures of her in her high school year book, as well as some photos of her after she had graduated but it was an entirely different thing to be standing less than two feet away from her eighteen year-old self. His eyes squinted but his features quickly smoothed out into a smile when he noticed that she had a stud in her nose. It reminded him of a conversation—or rather, an argument—he had with her about him wanting to get his own nose pierced.

"You know, I might not be the most popular girl in school but I'm pretty sure I've never seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"What?" Joe asked, drawing himself back to the present. Or rather, the current. "Oh, yeah this is my first day here. I'm Joe Ev—" catching himself, he whipped his head to the side and faked a few coughs. "Sorry. Um I'm Joe…" His eye darted around the surrounding area in search of a possible last name to cover with. _Lamp? No. School? No. Hurry up; she's staring at you like you're crazy again_!

"Hart! I'm Joe Hart," he re-extending his hand out to her. _Thank goodness for all the V-Day stuff_.

She warily accepted, "Mercedes Jones. Anyway, you should really be more careful. "

As she started to walk away, towards the school's entrance, Joe looked around to see if he might catch any other familiar faces. He didn't want to stray too far from his mom, but he also didn't want to scare her by stalking her. Other McKinley students were heading inside as well, so he figured following her in this case wouldn't hurt.

After passing through the threshold, his eyes were restless. High school in 2012 was…odd. There was so much paper on the walls and the lockers were huge. At his high school, locker bays were more like cubbies and any announcements made to the student body were displayed digitally, or sent directly to the student and staff's smartphones. Still, he admired the vintage look, meshed with all the red, pink and white Valentine's Day décor. It was one of the greatest holidays to celebrate, as far as he was concerned and girlfriend or not, he always found a way to spread the love.

In the midst of basking in wonder, Joe ran into yet another person.

"Oh, sorry I—oh my God!"

His dark green eyes widened at the sight of his friend, Sugar Pierce-Lopez, completely decked out in an outfit that screamed Valentine's Day—from the bow in her head, right down to her stockings and shoes.

"Sugar! Ah man it's so good to see a familiar face!"

"What are you doing here!" she hissed, seizing him by the arm to steer him away from the crowded hall. "You, me and Rory all in the same place? Ugh—I already told him to get lost but he's too caught up like a kid in a candy store, watching his dads be the next Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka!"

"Whoa," Joe put a hand up, "You and Rory came back here to be flies on a wall. I came back for a real purpose."

"I know, I know but…geeze, I thought you were gonna wait until one of us got back though, so it wouldn't seem suspicious. One of our parents is bound to notice, or our hologram selves will give one of us away and then we're all screwed!"

"Hey Sugar!"

Sugar and Joe turned to see who hailed the tiny brunette. For the second time already, he was seeing his mom. She was smiling brightly but her smile faded at the sight of Joe. He offered a crooked smile in return, however.

"I see you met the new kid too."

"Huh?" replied Sugar until Joe nudged her. "Oh, right! Yeah, Mercedes this is Joe…"

"Hart," the diva finished. "I remember. Anyway, Sam and I are welcoming Quinn back to the God Squad today so the Troubletones will meet after school instead to rehearse our number for Regionals."

"The God Squad?" Joe perked up curiously."

Sugar beat Mercedes to answering, "It's a Bible club."

"Noooot exactly," interjected Mercedes with a friendly smile. "We used to have a celibacy club at school but…it was kind of a joke to a lot of people and I didn't want my faith to be represented as a joke, so I talked to the counselor, Ms. Pillsbury about re-vamping it with a friend of mine. And now we're the God Squad."

"Mercedes is the president," Sugar whispered loudly and directly to Joe. She gave a subtle wink and then jolted over to wrap the diva in a hug while jumping up and down. "All hail President Mercedes!"

Joe chuckled, seeing his mother's look of uncertain amusement.

"Oookay, thanks Sugar. Anyway, I'll catch you later?"

"You got it, Troubletone Jones!" replied Sugar.

"Hey!" Joe chimed in, "Could I join the club? I'm a Christian and I don't think my faith's a joke. My mom didn't raise me to treat it that way at least. And um…" he caught himself trying not to be too revealing of his heritage so he thought up another lie, "My dad sells bibles after church on Sundays!"

Internally he wanted to smack his forehead. _How lame could you get, Joe?_

"Cool," Mercedes replied casually. "Well we're meeting a lunch today. You're welcome to come!"

"Righteous!" Joe cast a triumphant, lop-sided grin but he closed his mouth when he saw Mercedes tilt her head while gazing oddly at him.

_You have your Daddy's smile, I swear. My handsome little man_! He heard his mother's voice echoing in his head from when he was younger, as she would tickle his sides. Even as he progressed through his teens, she would tell him this.

"Alright, well…catch you later," she said, walking away with a confused expression.

Joe's cheeks were burning but he yelped when Sugar sucker punched his arm. "Ow!"

"You gotta be careful, idiot! And while you're at it, get your story straight before you go finding anyone else from the past. You and Rory are sophomores, so find him and see if he can help you out."

"But…what about you? Why can't you help me?"

Sugar rolled her eyes while counting off on her fingers, "One, I'm a Freshmen."

"So what?"

"Two, I'm pretty sure Principal Figgins—he's the principal—will notice a non-student with dreadlocks walking around the school in no time so I hope you have plans to get yourself registered. And three, I have a big announcement to go make in the glee club so…bye!"

With that, she skipped away, leaving Joe's head filed with all sorts of worries. He hadn't planned out how he was going to get himself enrolled in the school and the campus wasn't exactly small—how was he supposed to find Rory?

The panic was rising in him, so he did the only thing he could think to do; carried his duffle bag into the nearest boys' bathroom and locked himself inside a stall while he thought of who Joseph Hart, not Joseph Evans was, and how best to find his best friend, Rory Anderson.

* * *

_**Please leave reviews! This fic won't be terribly long, but it will be told from Joe's POV throughout its duration. More will come over time! :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

Joe spent over an hour locked in the bathroom stall, jotting down in a notebook who he was going to be. He didn't want to stray too much from who he actually was—considering he was going to have to remember it all. His name was Joseph Hart; his dad sold bibles and went on missions trips and his mom home was a government agent. _Good. That should keep people from wanting to meet them,_ he thought to himself. He didn't have any siblings and his extended family lived out-of-state.

As he sat on a toilet seat, he rifled through his duffle bag and took out his dad's copy of the 2012 McKinley yearbook to get any other ideas of things he could say about himself and things to avoid. When he got to the photos of the Glee club, he muttered, "Crap." He didn't know how it slipped his mind that _that _was where his parents first met. He had to figure out a way to get into the club, without looking like he was stalking his mom.

_Just stick with the God Squad for now, dude_.

As he got ready to close the yearbook, his eyes locked on a colored photograph of his parents. His mom was wearing a red dress with her hair in an up `do while his dad was looking dapper in all black with a red tie. They were singing to one another while dancing with their friends. The caption below the photograph read: "2012 National Show Choir Competition" and below that held a list of their songs.

"Crap!" he hissed again. If he joined the Glee club, he was going to be expected to know some songs from this era and back. And while his parents were fond of Motown, R&B, pop and country music, he didn't know enough from then to get him by without getting suspicious looks.

Panic flushed his cheeks. He _had_ to find Rory. Rory would know what to do.

After stuffing everything back inside his bag, he exited the stall and made to leave just as the bathroom door swung open, nearly hitting him in the face.

"Whoa—Rory! Oh man, am I glad to see you!"

"Joe?" Rory's green eyes widened. "When'd you get here?"

"A couple hours ago. I already ran into Sugar. Hey, listen, I need your help. I don't know a lot of songs from today and I need to figure this out so I have my story straight before I go find the principal's office to register and—"

"Whoa." Rory held his hands up, "Slow down. You're runnin' your mouth at a hundred miles a second."

Joe stared at him, silent but visibly worried. He was also cursing himself internally for not having this stuff planned out before making the time jump. His thoughts must have been leaking on his face because his Irish buddy offered a sympathetic smile.

"Listen, tell me what you've got so far and I'll help you work it out with what I already know. Fair enough?"

Joe nodded and set down his duffle to show Rory his notebook. "I have until lunch time to get this done."

"That doesn't leave us much time," replied Rory as he opened the notebook. "But don't worry—you've already got started and Principal Figgins isn't the smartest sheep in the herd."

By the time he and Rory finished nailing down Joe's lies, they walked out of the bathroom together and Rory offered to show him to Figgins' office. On the way, he gave Joe a quick rundown of where the choir room was, names of people to avoid and where his parents usually hung out at during lunch.

"Remember Joe—your mom's your best friend and that's why you've decided to attend public school."

"Okay, but…why is my mom my best friend again?"

Rory gave him a meaningful look, "No offense? You're a total mother's boy."

"No I'm not!"

"Oh," Rory ignored his protest, "and I'm not Rory Anderson here—for obvious reasons."

Joe's lips spread in an amused smirk, "Yeah I never did ask you or Sugar about your lies. So who are you? Just so I have the story straight."

"I'm Rory Flanagan," he said, keeping his voice low. "I'm a foreign exchange student from Ireland and I'm staying at one of Sugar's parents' houses while I'm here. She's in the glee club with our parents."

Joe's brows furrowed, "How did you manage that?"

Rory shrugged, "Sugar and I rigged a foreign exchange student form and I sweet-talked her mom, Brittany, into buyin' it. It worked out better than we thought and well…it made more sense than saying 'Oh hi, I'm Rory Anderson—adopted son of Kurt and Blaine Anderson.'"

Joe nodded appreciatively. "And Sugar?"

"Oh um…she's Sugar Motta. Sugar Lopez would have been too suspicious. She convinced some rich guy with the same last name that she was his long lost daughter. So now she's got access to a lot of money. _That's_ been pretty helpful though since neither of us really thought about how different money looks these days." As they stopped in front of Figgins' office, Rory reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. "Here."

Joe's eyes widened at the wad of cash Rory was holding out. He turned his head warily to the side, "Dude, I dunno…"

"Joe, trust me. You're gonna need it."

He stared at his friend for several seconds and then sighed, shoving the cash deep into his pocket. "Thanks."

"Oh don't thank me." He smiled, "Thank Sugar. Anyway, I gotta get going. I'm in a competition with this guy named Artie. He's trying to win over Sugar for Valentine's Day."

"_What?_"

"Yep! But he clearly doesn't know a thing about me and Sugar." Rory winked. "Still…Sugar's enjoying the chase."

With a devious grin, Rory stalked down the hallway while Joe entered the principal's office. He rehearsed in the bathroom what he was going to say to Principal Figgins, and as Rory foretold him, the principal was not the sharpest crayon in the box. He bought the forged handwritten note from his "parents", giving Joe to register himself.

* * *

"Here's your class schedule and locker number with the combination, Mr. Hart. Welcome to William McKinley!" said a proud Principal Figgins.

Joe accepted with a crooked smirk, "Thank you, sir," and left the office with subtle quickness. He stopped at his new locker to stuff his duffle inside, keeping only his wallet with him. As he started back towards the choir room, the bell rang over his head and the halls soon filled with students again. He felt himself growing overwhelmed, spotting a few familiar faces from the yearbook as well as his parents' house. First were his parents' good friends, Mike and Tina Chang. He couldn't remember Tina's maiden name off the top of his head but it wasn't really that important at the moment. They looked as happy and in love now as they would whenever he and his family would visit them.

Then he saw them joined by a guy in a wheelchair with glasses. Joe raised a brow as he overheard his Aunt Tina call him 'Artie'. _So _that'_s the guy Rory's competing with for Sugar? Huh_.

Joe continued down the hallway and slipped into the empty choir room. His eyes took in the sight of the room. He had heard stories about events that happened in this room; of how his dad dressed up like Justin Bieber in here. Or how his mom made the color red "sizzle" for their disco assignment. He smirked and shook his head, recalling his dad's constant lip biting from that story. His favorite story was hearing about his mom's original song, "Hell to the No". He walked over to the collection of instruments near a glossy black piano and picked up an apple red acoustic guitar.

He strummed a few of the notes and mumbled, "Whoa-oh, oh—whoa-oh hell to the n'no n—"

"There you are!"

Joe jumped and felt his heart begin to hammer against his chest as he whipped his head around and saw his mom standing there with her hands on her hips and a smile and suspicious eyes staring at him.

"We're getting ready to meet. You coming?"

Still recovering from his shock he grinned nervously at her and glanced down at the tile floor, "Y-yeah. I should probably put this back, huh?"

He glanced up to see her gaze turn to the guitar. "Well…yeah probably but…you know what? Bring it this time. We're discussing something today and who knows—maybe the guitar will inspire an idea from you." Her smile spread into a more friendly one and then she stepped aside at the door, "I'll show you to the classroom we meet at."

Joe stood and carried the guitar with him as he walked beside his mother. It was hard for him not to continuously stare down at her and smile. So much of her radiant spirit hadn't changed from the woman he knew. He noticed that she was staring back at him, so he decided to break the silence between them.

"Um, so…who all is in the God Squad?"

"Well…there's only four of us in it now. You'll meet the other half of our group in a little bit."

Mercedes entered the empty classroom first. It appeared that Mercedes had already been in the room. Four long tables were arranged in a conference style square and Joe noticed an easel-like whiteboard with her familiar handwriting scribbled down it. He sat down to his mom's left, cradling the guitar in his lap and feeling unsure of how convincing his lies were going to come out. It was first time he was going to try them out on students but he figured if he could get past Figgins, he might be alright with people around his age.

He glanced down at the guitar neck, concentrating on the story he and Rory came up with until the classroom door opened up. Joe raised his head and saw a petite blonde girl in a sun dress saunter in. From his peripheral vision, he saw his mom smile brightly and wave to the newcomer. Joe's eyes were locked on her however; she looked absolutely radiant and yet oddly familiar. He couldn't figure out why…

"Hey, Mercedes!"

Joe snapped out of his short-lived swoon to see who the final member of the God Squad was.

"Hi Sam."

His jaw slackened at the sight of his teenage father—short blond hair, athletic build, and as always, eyes only for his mom. Joe quickly snapped his lips shut when his dad eyed him with a stare that forced Joe's gaze to the floor. With reddening cheeks, he opted on bringing his focus back to the guitar in his lap while Sugar's words of warning echoed in his mind.

"_You gotta be careful, idiot_!"

Knock, knock.

"I now call this meeting of The God Squad to order. Thank you guys for coming," spoke Mercedes. "Our first order of business is to welcome Quinn Fabray back in the fold. Nice to see you Quinn."

"Thank you," Quinn replied sweetly. Joe was still fixated on figuring out why she looked familiar as she went on to say, "I know it's been a while. When I was at my lowest, I turned to prayer. I'm not even sure who I was praying to, really but…it seemed to lead me on the right track."

"Amen," chimed in his dad.

"Praise," echoed his mom.

Joe adjusted his hate and smiled knowingly but avoided making eye contact with either one of them.

"Can I ask a question," mumbled Sam, with a flick of his hand. "What's with the Tarantula Head over here?"

His ever kind mom turned her gaze from her father to him as she answered, "This is our new member. This is Joseph Hart but you guys can call him Joe. He just transferred here to McKinley."

Here was his big moment. He took a leaf from his dad's calm demeanor while spouting off his lie coolly, "Yeah I guess I'm a sophomore. Uh—been homeschooled my whole life. But this past year I realized my best friend was my mom, so..I decided I wanted to get out and…experience the world."

Despite his lax body language, his eyes were restless. He caught Quinn giving him a confused gaze while his dad stared at him like they were in an interrogation room. His mom maintained the smile she had after introducing him, so that seemed to bring a wave of reassurance over him that he was doing well.

"What's with the tats?"

"Bible quotes," Joe replied, tugging on his olive green V-neck. "And each one of my dreads is named after a book in the bible."

"You've got to be kidding me," murmured Quinn.

"I play guitar too, but… I only play Christian stuff. My dad only listens to Talk Radio and we don't have a T.V." He paused for only half of a second and then finished with, "Oh do you guys mind if I take off my shoes? I'm so used to going to school barefoot."

He couldn't fight the smirk tugging at his lips from that one. It was the only thing he had improvised from the lines he and Rory conjured up in the bathroom. It made for a great explanation as to why he would likely not know any currently popular songs.

"He's like a teen Jesus!"

"I'm just glad there's another dude around here," he heard his dad mumble. Joe perked up at that and smiled but it soon faded as Sam went on to say, "I've noticed that Shane isn't a member of the God Squad…that's interesting."

_Shane?_

"Okay, that's enough, Sam."

_Okay, who the hell is Shane?_ Joe wondered with a twinge of irritation. While his mom spoke on, he made a mental note to get more information from Rory and Sugar, if he wasn't able to find this out for himself by the end of the school day.

His attention didn't return to the meeting until he saw his dad rise from his chair and make a proposal for singing telegrams. Joe smiled at the suggestion of he and his dad getting to play guitar together. He wasn't sure how well it would go, depending on the song they were going to have to play, but he was excited nonetheless.

"It _is_ a religious holiday; St. Valentine's and all that. And I'd _love_ to show the school that cool it's to be Christian—and that we aren't all bible salesmen like my dad."

_Good job, Joe. Keep up the consistency_! He thought proudly to himself.

"Alright!" Mercedes happily chimed in. "All in favor?"

Quinn and Sam's hands slowly rose, and Joe followed suit with a triumphant grin. He made it through the God Squad meeting and celebrated with an outspoken, "Righteous!"

* * *

_**Please leave reviews! I appreciate the love. More chapters are coming! You'll see more of the things we **_**didn't **_**get in the "Heart" episode for the next chapter. AKA, father-son bonding. After all, the God Squad's got to rehearse once they get their first singing telegram customer. ;)**_

* * *

_*****Some of the dialogue in this chapter comes directly from the Glee episode "Heart". I take no credit for said dialogue. Also, the portion of lyrics of "Hell to the No" are not mine. They were featured in the Glee episode, "Original Song". **_


	3. Chapter 3

Following the unanimous decision to perform singing telegrams, the group settled on a price and began coming up with potential song selections to use. Joe watched his dad pull out a small device which he soon recognized as an mp3 player. By the end of lunch, his parents and Quinn pre-chose 5 songs to perform.

"Think you can learn some of these, Joe?" asked his mom.

Joe smiled, "Yeah, no problem. I just need to hear the songs a few times."

"I got you covered," said Sam, holding up his mp3. "Just don't lose this." He got up to hand it to Joe while saying, "All the song s we picked are on here." He gave Joe a quick tutorial on using it, and then went back to his seat.

"Great! If you guys are cool with it, we can start practicing after school tomorrow. I'd say lunch time but I already promised my lunches to the Troubletones until Regionals."

"After school works for me," said Quinn.

"Me too, except Thursdays," murmured Sam. "Swim practice."

Joe gave a long nod of realization. He almost forgot his dad had been on the swim team, but the Letterman's jacket should have tipped him off.

"Alright we'll practice the songs after school except Thursdays, until Valentine's Day next week. Maybe I can get my church's choir to help out."

As Mercedes finished up, the bell rang, bringing the lunch period to an end. Everyone gathered up their things and headed out of the classroom. Joe stayed close to his mom; that is until she asked him, "So…what classes do you have?"

"Huh? Oh, right!" Only then did he realize that he never actually looked at his schedule after Figgins gave it to him. He skirted the question by spouting off basic courses, "English, Math, Science, History…" He clamped his lips shut nervously when Mercedes' raised a brow at him.

"Oookay, well…who's your teachers?"

"Um…I'm not too sure. My schedule's in my locker," he confessed, blushing.

Mercedes giggled, "Boy, you're not off to a very good start here, are you?"

He chuckled, still nervous, "I guess not."

"Where's your locker?"

He pointed towards the choir room.

"Good. Then we can put the guitar back, and maybe I can show you where your class is."

"Cool. Thanks a lot Mo—I mean, Mercedes."

She eyed him suspiciously.

"Sorry. Habit."

"I remind you of your mom?" she chuckled.

_You have no idea._

"Something like that. Anyway, I just really appreciate your help. You've been really nice to me despite what happened..y'know, this morning."

Her lips pursed, "Yeah well…I figured if you were a creep, you wouldn't have turned so red."

He felt his cheeks growing warm again and his mom clearly noticed.

"Like that!" she giggled.

Joe bit his lip and she playfully swatted his arm. "Come on—otherwise we're both gonna be late for our classes."

* * *

The rest of Joe's school day seemed to coast by without a problem. It wasn't until the school day ended, however, that he realized he had nowhere to stay. He stood in front of the school with his duffle, letting panic get the better of him until a familiar shrill, yet raspy voice hit his ears.

"There you are!"

He turned around to see Sugar—in all her Valentine's Day garb glory—scuttling towards him. She looked up at him from behind a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses and fussed, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"But…school just got out."

"Whatever. Anyway, where are you staying while you're here?"

Crestfallen, Joe shook his dreadlocked head. "I dunno. I mean, Rory gave me some money earlier but—"

"Oh stop frowning at me like that, Joe!" Sugar demanded with a furious frown. "Lucky for you, I'd thought of a solution during my English class."

Instantly, Joe perked up, "You have?"

"Yep! You're gonna stay with me and my 'Daddy'" she made air quotes while quieting her voice. "This Motta guy is like…the Daddy Warbucks of Ohio or something. His house is_ crazy_-huge, and he has a pool house. So I'll sweet talk him and you can stay there!"

Joe's joy of Sugar having a plan transformed into wary sternness, "I don't know about this Sugar…"

"Oh please," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes, not unlike her mother, Santana. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Well…no, but—"

"Then it's settled. You're staying with me. Besides, between me and Rory, someone's gotta keep an eye out on you until you get used to being here." She took out a flat cell phone; Joe recognized it as an iPhone.

"Who are you calling?" he asked.

Sugar smiled deviously, "My driver. I'm ready to go home…to the Motta mansion…and you needa not be carrying that bag everywhere. Plus our phones don't work here which means we have some shopping to do."

"Oh…okay, but…don't you have that Troubletones meeting with my mom today?"

"Eep! Crap!" Sugar quickly ended her call, grabbed Joe by the wrist and forced him back towards the school with her. "Come on! You can sit and watch 'til I'm done!"

Joe followed but struggled to keep a steady pace with his duffle bag whacking his side with every step. IT annoyed him but too much of him was interested in seeing his mom again to care. He suddenly remembered that there was something he wanted to ask her.

* * *

"Uh…Sugar, who said you could invite the Burning Man mascot to our rehearsal?"

"Santana, be nice," said Brittany softly. "It might not be his fault that the vines are growing out of his head. He could have been raised in the jungle by gorillas like Tarzan."

Joe shifted his weight from one sandal-clad foot to the other while keeping his green hues on the floor. It was the only thing keeping him from laughing or smiling like an idiot at Sugar's parents. Not much about them seemed to be different now, compared to the future where he knew them best, but it was a little weird for him to se them in cheerleading uniforms.

"It's alright Santana—Joe's harmless. Plus, he might be able to give an honest opinion on our routine."

All of the girls, along with Joe were staring at Mercedes. His gaze, of course, was one of adoration; so maybe Rory was right about him being a Momma's Boy. But he didn't care—his mom was amazing and there was no telling him otherwise.

"So how about it, Joe?" asked Sugar, winking at him.

Joe grinned brightly, "Sure!" He set his duffle bag on the floor and sat down at the front row of the auditorium while his mom, friend and the rest of the Troubletones positioned themselves on the stage.

As the girls breezed fiercely through their performance of the Kelly Clarkson anthem, Joe nearly left his seat to dance with them. HE was so proud and excited—his eyes couldn't decide whether or not to settle on Sugar or Aunt Britt or Aunt Santana or his mom. When they finished, Joe had the widest crooked grin on his face. He clapped until the girls broke formation. "That was great! You guys were…stunning! Amazing!"

"Well thanks, Sideshow Bob," jeered Santana.

Mercedes rolled her eyes and shook her head at Santana, while Joe merely bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

"Alright ladies. Let's run through it just two more times and we'll call it Triple F for today."

"Triple F?" asked Joe.

Mercedes looked back to him, "Fierce, femme, phenomenal. It's kind of our motto."

"Someone say my name?" joked Sugar.

"No, Richie Rich," snapped Santana. "Get in your spot so we can get this done. Britts and I have plans at Breadstix today. We miss them? I'm bringin' Lima Heights Adjacent down on all your asses."

Joe doubled over in his seat to hide his quiet laughs. If only _this_ Santana knew how much she had really passed on this spitfire attitude to her daughter.

After they finished their 2 run-throughs, Joe grabbed his duffle and loomed around to catch Mercedes while Sugar went to call her driver. "Hey, um…Mercedes? Can I ask you something?"

It had been on his mind since the God Squad meeting—he couldn't believe he had almost forgotten to ask.

"Go ahead—oh and I have something to tell you after."

Joe's brows rose, "Okay. Well…during the God Squad meeting, that guy…Sam…he mentioned another guy not being part of the God Squad…"

His eyes were studying his mom's face the whole time and he wondered if he had asked the wrong thing or if he had phrased it in too invasive a way.

"Oh…yeah he was talking about Shane—my boyfriend."

It was hard for Joe to hide his shock. _Is Shane the reason they almost didn't stay together?_ He wondered.

His gaze moved from his mom. "I see."

"Yeah…" Mercedes' tone suggested that she was confused to why this guy, practically a stranger, was carrying a tone of judgment about her personal life. "Anyway, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Oh um…yeah. Thanks again for everything today."

"No prob. See you. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. Make sure you learn "Stereo Hearts" tonight. Sam said we got our first vocal Valentine."

* * *

The day had been one of the longest days of his life, but finally Joe was able to put his head to a pillow. After being dragged around the Lima mall, meeting Sugar's pushover pseudo-father and getting his things settled into the Motta pool house, Joe was able to relax on the bed with his new guitar and his dad's mp3, listening to the Gym Class Heroes song on repeat.

After learning all of the lyrics and figuring out some of the melody on the guitar, he set the instrument aside, curled up and fell asleep, mulling over just how long he was going to be in the past before getting answers.

* * *

_**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll get through the "Stereo Hearts"/"singing to gay people" scenes next and get things moving along through Regionals/"On My Way" after that. Reviews are love! Please & thank you! :) **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Apologies! In keeping with the episode "Heart", I forgot that Rory & Artie don't roadhouse until lunchtime. Sorry about that! Anyway, that little mistake shouldn't interfere with the story but nevertheless, I wanted to apologize. **_

_**Also, there is some dialogue in here, direct from the "Heart" episode. I do not own Glee. I have no involvement in the creation or production of Glee. I don't claim to own any of the scripted dialogue repeated in this fanfic. Enjoy!**_

* * *

Joe had "Stereo Hearts" stuck in his head when he woke up the next morning. He gave the other songs a listen while getting ready for his second day of school at McKinley. So much had been on his mind and yet he didn't feel any closer to figuring out what went wrong with his parents.

He used his own undergarments, but dug through the line of shopping bags full of clothes, afforded to him from Sugar's shopping Spring on this Motta guy's dime. He threw on an outfit that looked okay in his eyes, adding a pale red scarf and some flingerless gloves, and slipped his new messenger bag over his shoulder. As he dug through his duffle bag for his notebook, his fingers grazed across the edge of a photo. Unable to help himself, Joe pulled the photograph out.

The photo showed a younger version of himself, beaming an open-mouthed, lop-sided grin at the camera. He was sitting on his dad's shoulders with his arms spread wide, as though he were flying in the sky. Standing next his dad, leaning into his side was his mom; the two of them smiled brightly while his dad gave a content smirk. Even though he was seeing them today—sort of—he missed his parents so much. His chest prickled as guilt crept over him for lying about his current whereabouts, but he was determined to get some answers.

Pushing the guilt deep down, he put the photo back and left the pool house to catch a ride with Sugar.

"Nice outfit," he said, taking in her brown, mono-printed plaid skirt and jacket.

She grinned and shrugged, "Thanks! Yours isn't so bad. So what's your plans for today?"

"Well…my mom—I mean Mercedes told me yesterday that The God Squad has their first singing telegram today, so…"

"Not _that_," fussed Sugar. She lowered her voice, "I mean with finding out more about why your parents aren't together anymore!"

Joe's brows twitched up, "Oh! Well…I um…don't really have a plan there yet."

Sugar swatted his arm.

"Hey! Look," his voice dropped low too, "I just got here yesterday. I need to get information—observe so I can learn what happened. And then I'm going back."

She scowled drawing her puckered lips to one side of her face. "Okay. Well…if I hear or see anything that might be useful, I'll tell you okay? Same goes for Rory. You let him know to do the same."

Joe smiled, "Thanks Sugar."

"Yep. The sooner I get one or both of you back to our time, the better. We're messing with fire, being here at the same time."

"So why don't_ you_ go back?"

"Are you nuts? I love it here! Besides, my moms won't care once they find out the truth. Mama Britt will probably ask me if I talked to her dead cat and Mama Tana might ground me for a bit or something." She shrugged carelessly, "Or she won't do anything at all. Either way, you and Rory are the ones with the stricter parents. Especially you! When your mom finds out where you've gone?" Sugar dragged her finger across her neck.

Joe's entire expression fell. "Thanks Sugar," he repeated in an entirely deflated tone this time.

They arrived at the school and Joe tried to remember where his first class was. Thankfully he had several of them with Rory and his first period teacher was nice enough to let them sit next to one another. He relayed Sugar's message of being an extra ear for useful information, and in turn, Rory asked for advice to beat out Artie in their competition.

"I dunno bro," whispered Joe. "Get her a dog or something."

Rory's face contorted in total confusion. "A dog?"

"Yeah. She likes them. Doesn't she?"

A smile crept across Rory's face. "She does. And I know just who to talk to about gettin' one. Good thing this school has off-campus lunch priveleges."

Joe smirked but shook his head; Rory couldn't resist a competition—no matter how silly or unnecessary it was.

* * *

They continued on through their classes and when Joe made a stop to his locker before lunch, he was encountered by his dad.

"Hey, Teen Jesus!"

Joe looked up a little confused and amused. "It's Joe."

"Right. Sorry. Anyway, do you have my mp3 player? I kinda want it back."

"Oh! Yeah it's in my bag." Joe lifted the flap and pushed his notebook around but the mp3 player was nowhere in sight. He immediately began to panic and then glanced back up to Sam when realization hit him. "Shoot—I must have left it on my bed this morning. I'm _really_ really sorry—…Sam."

Sam waved it off, "It's cool. Just get it back to me tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure thing. Oh and there's a couple of the songs we talked about yesterday and I listened to 'em last night. 'Cherish'?"

"Which one?"

"Well…both. I thought they sounded kinda cool together. You know like…if you mix 'em together…" he used a swirling hand motion to try and convey his point.

Sam's brows furrowed, joining an amused smile, "You mean a mash-up?"

"Yeah!"

"Cool. Well, we'll see. Let's stick to 'Stereo Hearts' for now since it's our only vocal Valentine at the moment. You've got it down, right?"

Joe nodded with a proud smile, "Most definitely."

"Good to know. So the plan is for me to cover Travie's part—he does the rapping. And you're gonna carry Adam Levine's part. He sings the chorus. Mercedes and Quinn know their parts already…they're gonna basically follow your cue, so…we should be good to go."

"Righteous!" replied Joe.

"Yeah, so meet us in the quad near the flagpole at the start of lunch. Quinn, Mercedes and I have a quick meeting with Glee club right now, but we'll see you after. I'll grab a guitar for you."

As his dad turned to leave, Joe thanked him and headed off in the opposite direction, feeling proud for getting through a conversation with his dad without any slip-ups. He made a quick stop to his locker to drop off his bag and then headed off to the quad to find the flagpole.

* * *

Sooner than expected, he was joined by Quinn, Sam and Mercedes. Sam handed over the apple red guitar and Joe expertly slipped it over his head. He checked to make sure it was tuned and mumbled the first few lyrics to "Stereo Hearts".

"You know…we never even bothered to check and see if you could sing," noted Quinn, gazing right at him.

Joe smirked knowingly and replied, "Oh I can sing." His eyes flickered quickly across his parents' encouraging faces and then together they trekked across the quad. Again, he was seeing Santana but this time she wasn't alone.

"'Scuse me. Are you Miss Rachel Berry?" his mom asked with obvious sarcasm.

Rachel stared around as if she were being pranked and mumbled, "Ummm, yeah?"

Joe's gaze went to his moment when she quietly laughed and said, "Well we're the God Squad and we're here to deliver a vocal Valentine from one Finn Hudson."

Joe watched Rachel fan herself as he strummed the first chord to the song on the guitar and belted out, "_My heart's a stereo—it beats for you so listen close. Hear my thoughts in every note. Oh, oh_…"

It was hard for him not to smile a little as he sang, especially when his mom would gaze up at him with those large, admiring eyes. Yes, he knew he was supposed to be singing this for Rachel, but he wanted to do his best for his mom.

When he finished the chorus, his lips spread into a lop-sided grin as he watched his dad break away from the group, carrying all the confidence and swagger he possessed while he followed Rachel. Joe's brows shot up, completely impressed; it wasn't every day he got to hear his father _rap_ and do so with conviction.

He followed Quinn and Mercedes' lead, singing at all the appropriate parts as they moved about the quad. His hands only left the guitar to form the prayer position as he sang, "_I only pray you never leave me behind, because good music can be so hard to find. I'll take your hand and hold it closer to mine; thought love was dead but now you're changin' my mind_…!" He was only vaguely aware of the church choir that suddenly appeared to their right, but too much of his attention had been wrapped up in keeping up with the God Squad's constant movement. When the song ended and Rachel squealed in excitement, Joe was standing next to his dad on a bench while his mom was on the ground in front of him, repeating the Valentine's greeting from Finn.

"That's so sweet!" Rachel happily muttered.

"Soo you guys are a Christian group?"

"Yes," Joe answered. He didn't know why he felt the need to speak on the group's behalf, considering he was the newest member, but his excitement of performing with his parents boosted his confidence, and Santana seemed okay speaking directly to him.

"And if I pay, I Can send a vocal Valentine to anybody I want, right?" she asked.

"Ten bucks—that's the deal," he replied.

"Awesome!" He watched his pseudo-aunt dig in her jacket pocket, "In _that_ case, I would like to send one to my girlfriend, Brittany."

Out of Joe's peripheral vision he saw his dad clench the air in triumph.

"And by that, I don't mean my friend who's a girl. I mean my _girlfriend_, girlfriend. How does that sound?"

Joe squinted his gaze at her. _Am I missing something?_ He wondered. _Why was she smiling so cynically at me? And why did she keep putting so much emphasis on Aunt Brittany being her girlfriend?_

"We'll let you know before tomorrow's over, Santana," Mercedes interrupted.

Santana shrugged, maintaining her false kindness. "Great!" And as she turned to leave with Rachel, all eyes of the three other God Squad members fell on Joe.

His face was still stuck in confusion as to why this was such a big deal. He was about to ask but his mouth quickly snapped shut. He was supposed to be the ultra-sheltered Christian. The guy who's best friend was his mom while his dad kept him from any sort of media outlets. For the first time, he wondered if he and Rory overdid it with his made-up biography.

"Alright," Mercedes sighed, "Let's meet up after school and talk about this. Valentine's Day is tomorrow so we don't have a lot of time to stall."

Quinn and Sam nodded and Joe snapped out of his own thoughts to do the same. They all dispersed—Quinn going her own way, and his parents wandering off together looking, to his relief, very happy. And as much as he wanted to follow after them, Joe went to find Sugar.

* * *

_**Please leave reviews! More is on the way. Unfortunately I'll be splitting what's left of the "Heart" episode into 2 chapters (this one and one more after) but I promise to make it worth your while!  
Song lyrics used in this chapter are from the song "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: More lines from the Glee episode, "Heart" will be used in this chapter. I do not own Glee. I don't work for the network or anyone involved in Glee. The quoted lines from Glee's season 3 episode "Heart" are not mine. I don't know how much clearer I can be in saying that those lines are not mine/unique to my written piece**_.

"So my mom tried to make you squirm with emphasizing that she's gay?"

Joe nodded as they sat in the back of Sugar's personal car, "Yeah. I didn't get it at first but then I remember I'm supposed to be the sheltered religious kid who doesn't know better so then it made sense."

Sugar near fell over laughing but Joe sighed, "Sugar, come on it's not that funny. Besides, I almost blew my cover."

"But it_ is_ funny! To me at least," argued Sugar. "You do realize my mom's still like that, right?"

"Yeah but the Santana that I know already knows I'm not like that. I totally accept her and Aunt Britt, and Rory's parents too. Love's not about who you love, but about _how_ you love."

"Ooo, deep!" exclaimed Sugar with a bright grin, "Maybe you should run with that then. Just have like…some great epiphany before Valentine's Day and get to serenading my parents with the God Squad. I know! Maybe you guys could sing to them at my party! That way I can be there to see it too!"

Joe grinned at her, "That's a great idea. We're meeting tomorrow to talk about what happened and how we're gonna deal with it. I don't wanna make them suspicious of me so I'll have to kinda drag it out a little bit; make them think that I'm really gonna think over the whole gay issue. Then I'll 'make up my mind' and we'll sing to them at your party. You said it's called the Sugar Shack, right?"

She curled her lips in a sly smirk, "It's gonna be that, yeah. Normally it's this place called Breadstix. Everyone talks about it like it's the best thing on the planet so I figure it's the perf place for my V-Day party." She bobbed her head from side to side to a tune that Joe couldn't hear and then suddenly she looked at him again, "Hey maybe your parents will be back together by the time my party happens! I told everyone single people weren't allowed to come. They're sad and don't exist in my world, so…they better be back together by then."

A sour look came over Joe. "I still can't believe they're not together now. I dunno much about this Shane guy but I don't like him and I can't help feeling like he's got something to do with what happened between them."

"Nope, not really."

He stared at Sugar, surprised. "What? How do you know?"

"Are you forgetting I've been here since the beginning of the school year? Plus I made friends with Mercedes when we formed The Troubletones. Your dad moved away and your mom stated dating that Shane guy. Sooo yeah."

"So what? That means he doesn't have anything to do with my parents almost not being together in our time?"

Sugar shrugged, "I don't know! You wanted clues so I was trying to help you out and maybe clear things up. Sheesh."

They arrived at the Motta estate and headed inside. Another thought crossed Joe's mind so he looked down at his friend again, "Sugar, if my parents don't get back together before your party, does that mean they can't come?"

She shrugged, "Yeah. Sorry Joe but that's my rule."

His lips fought a smile, "Well what's the God Squad supposed to do if they end up singing for your parents but half its members aren't allowed in to perform?"

Sugar stared up at him for a long time and then finally caved with a sigh, "Fine. They can come because they're in the God Squad and all."

She stalked off towards the grand staircase while Joe allowed himself a triumphant grin on his trek out to the pool house.

* * *

Mercedes tapped her gavel twice and then let out a soft sigh. Joe had spent the previous evening going back and forth between learning more love songs on his guitar, making a partial effort on his first few homework assignments, and strategizing for this God Squad meeting. He noticed his mom's purple headband and wanted to smile at how pretty she looked, but he quickly recalled that he was planning to look a little morose and very confused.

"Alright guys…we have to have a discussion to figure out what the God Squad feels about singing to gay people."

All eyes went from Mercedes to Sam's confused face as he said, "Well 3 of us are in Glee Club so we pretty much sing to gay people all the time."

Joe resisted the urge to nod but his head turned to his mom. "Listen, I know _we're_ okay with it but, Joe may not be."

Everyone was staring at him now; he stammered over his response. "I try my best not to judge anybody but…honestly…I've never met anyone who's gay."

He wanted to smack his own forehead. _Seriously? You're being_ that_ sheltered?_ he thought to himself. _This is getting ridiculous—I need to lighten up._

"Oh, I guarantee you have," chimed in Quinn.

"Yeah, they say 1 out of every 10 people are gay. And if that's true, then that means one of the 12 apostles was gay…" His mom looked around, "And my guess is Simon because that name's the gayest."

It took everything in Joe not to even crack the slightest smile at that. It helped when his dad spoke again. "The bible says it's an abomination for a man to lay down with another man but we shared tents in Cub Scouts and slept next to each other all the time….so, that would make Cub Scouts an abomination."

"You know what else the bible says is an abomination? Eating lobster, planting different crops in the same field—giving somebody a prowl look?" She shook her head, "Not an abomination? Slavery. Jesus never said anything about gay people—that's fact."

The conversation bounced back to his dad when he said, "Well maybe he wanted to but he didn't wanna hurt Simon's feelings."

Joe clamped his teeth around the inside. _Really, Dad?_ He was going to blow this façade and laugh—no doubt.

"You guys, we have to figure out where we stand," said Mercedes, "especially if we're gonna be asking volunteers from my church to sing back-up for us. Now I don't wanna hurt Santana's feelings but I also don't wanna make someone do something they're not comfortable with." She turned her head in Joe's direction, "So where do you stand, Joe?"

He pulled himself together enough to look conflicted and answer, "I guess I've gotta think about it."

For a second, he wondered if that was the right thing to say, but to his gratitude, Quinn came to his rescue. "You know what? That's totally fair. You have to look at the hard topics and dilemmas and be honest and truthful. IF you ask me, that's what being Christian is really about."

Joe nodded in agreement but out of the corner of his eye he saw his parents exchange wary glances. Did they not agree? His brows pulled together; something was going on and he was no closer to finding out than he was yesterday. When the God Squad meeting was adjourned, Joe got up and walked out next to his dad. "So um, about that mash-up I talked to you about the other day…"

"It's a good idea, dude," Sam replied. "Really. I'll talk to Mercedes about it if you wanna run it by Quinn. If this whole singing to gay people thing gets resolved soon—no pressure by the way—then maybe we'll use it to sing to Brittany."

Joe nodded with a knowing smile. He was excited his dad was supportive of his mash-up idea and knew they were going to get to perform it.

"Anyway, I gotta get going. I have something I need to do, but I'll catch you later."

Sam clapped a hand to Joe's shoulder in a farewell gesture and then wandered off down the hallway in the direction Mercedes had gone. Joe smiled after them and went to find Quinn but he got stopped by Rory.

"Hey, Joe!" He caught up and the two started walking, "Listen—that Artie guy's serenaded Sugar yesterday and I think she's gonna actually let him win this roadhouse thing!"

Joe smiled with a bit of confusion, "Well…why don't you serenade her back? Maybe she'll like your singing better."

Rory shook his head furiously, "No way. Artie's got like…a sex voice or something. You should've seen the look on Sugar's face after he sang to her."

The dreaded teen stared for a moment at Rory. "You're taking this seriously aren't you?"

"'Course I am! Sugar's my gal. I shouldn't have to be fighting with some guy from the past to be her Valentine's date."

Joe chuckled, "Well…I guess…try a different angle. Pull a sympathy card or write her a poem or—"

"The sympathy card…" Rory echoed thoughtfully.

Something devious flashed in his eyes, "I gotta go. See you later!"

Before Joe could find out what he was plotting, Rory had rushed away. Joe chuckled softly and left to tell Quinn about the mash-up.

* * *

At the end of the school day, Joe happily made his way down the hall for the God Squad's practice; they all were for his mash-up and were planning to rehearse it that afternoon for Valentine's Day tomorrow. On his way to the classroom where they met, he overheard a deep, unfamiliar voice mutter, "…feels like I been punched in the heart, Mercedes."

Joe skidded to a halt—his heartbeat picking up slightly as he heard his mom's voice say, "I'm so sorry, Shane."

His dark green eyes widened; he looked around the hallway to make sure no one was near to spot him eavesdropping.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you…" his mother's voice was trembling.

"That doesn't make it much better," replied Shane, followed by a sniffle. _Was he crying_?

"I know. And…I'm sure it doesn't seem like it to you but…I'm not that kind of girl, Shane. I don't know…I shouldn't have done it and letting myself go there's making me question who I am. I don't want to try and hold on to you while I'm trying to figure that you."

"So you're telling me you cheated on me and now you're dumping me?"

Joe's gaze was intense on the floor; he was trying so hard to listen and make sure he was hearing things correctly. _She's breaking things off with Shane_?

"Yeah. I am," she whispered so low that Joe almost didn't hear it. He knew it was wrong for him to be happy when they sounded like they were in so much pain—especially his mom—but he couldn't help smiling a little bit. This was good; _this_ was progress.

Joe wanted to hear more but he heard light steps click-clacking from behind him. He shot up from where he was crouching and pretended to be loping down the hall just as Quinn rounded the corner. He smiled at her and she cast her alluring smirk back at him as they met up and entered their meeting room.

Once their rehearsal of "Cherish/Cherish" ended, Joe looked to the other three club members and said, "Hey so…I spent the rest of the day thinking over the whole…singing to Brittany for Santana thing."

"Joe, you don't have to rush your answer," Mercedes said in a kind but sad tone.

"Well, actually he kinda does," murmured Sam. "Valentine's Day is tomorrow."

"Yeah," agreed Joe. "And it's okay Mercedes. I mean…love is about how you love, not who you love, right?" he repeated.

Mercedes cast a soft smile to him. It was the first time she had smiled during the entire meeting. "That's what I always say."

Joe returned her smile and his dad piped up, "Alright, so…we're gonna perform to Brittany." He looked to Mercedes, "Is your church gonna be able to help still?"

She grimaced a bit, "I…well I kind of forgot Valentine's Day is tomorrow when I mentioned getting their help. I don't know if they'll be able to learn the mash-up before tomorrow."

"It's alright," appeased Quinn. "We can perform the number without them. We've already got some choreography down and Santana will still get her money's worth since it's our mash-up."

Again, Joe smiled and as they were getting ready to head home, he asked, "Oh um...one more thing? I talked to Sugar Motta." He saw their confused expressions and thought fast, "She caught up with me after seeing us perform in the quad yesterday and she said if we wanted, we could perform at her party tomorrow night. I was thinking…maybe we could do our song to Brittany there."

"Sounds good to me," said his dad, stealing a sly glance at Mercedes.

Quinn nodded, "I agree. It'd be fun. And I know Sugar had that whole 'couples only' rule, but if she's okay with us coming then I guess that wouldn't apply to us."

Joe saw his mom staring uncomfortably at the ground and he knew exactly why. But a Valentine's Day party was the perfect place for his parents to re-kindle their love. Now that Shane wasn't a factor, he could see his parents come back together as they were destined to, and he could return to his time by tomorrow.

* * *

_**Please, please, please leave reviews! I love and appreciate them!**_

_**I'll be moving forward from the "Heart" episode in the next chapter, but don't worry! We'll get Joe's reaction to the "I Will Always Love You" scene as well as what happened at The Sugar Shack ;) More is coming!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**March 2012**

Joe sat inside the pool house feeling morose. The events that transpired over the past two weeks were anything but what he had been hoping for. First, he ran into his dad on his way to the bathroom, the morning of Valentine's Day and saw that he had been crying. He tried to find out why without coming across as overly interested—which proved to be a difficult feat. Then at Sugar's party, he noticed his parents kept exchanging glances with one another but it wasn't like before. He knew something had happened but he didn't know what. It frustrated him to no end, not knowing what happened and if whatever it was, was the reason he had made this trip in the first place.

On top of that, everyone was buzzing about some guy who seemed to be well-known around the school who had attempted suicide. And to add to his troubles, he was told by Sugar and Rory that Quinn got into a car crash. He didn't know where to start in terms of sorting out his concerns but part of him wondered if he should just go home and let Sugar and Rory spread the word of his absence as him returning to homeschooling or something. All the grief-worthy events were making him feel sick, literally. He rolled over in bed, thankful that Spring break had begun and tried to go back to sleep but a nauseating knot in his stomach prevented him from doing anything more than shutting his eyes.

Three loud raps on the pool house door, followed by Sugar's voice also kept him from going back to sleep.

"Jooooeeee! Joe, open up!"

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

He groaned, rolling out of bed and scratched a few fingers over his scalp while crossing the room to answer Sugar's persistent knocks.

"_Finally_! "

"You weren't even knocking that long, Sugar," he replied with tired irritability.

"Oh whatever. Listen I'm going sho—are you okay? You look horrible."

"Thanks," he mumbled back. "I don't feel good."

Sugar's face soured, "Yuck well I'll make this quick so you don't throw up on me. I'm going shopping today with your mom and my moms at the mall. Rory should be by later—he called me last night with some info for you, so…"

Joe's heavy eyes widened a small fraction. "Really?" he croaked. "Wait why didn't he call me?"

Sugar shrugged, "Don't know. But listen if you need me, call. Or text me. Maybe I can try to get some answers out of your mom for why she's been so down since my party."

"Yeah…something happened between her and my dad…thanks Sugar."

"Yep! Later! Oh and I'll try to get you some Tums or something too."

She quickly about faced and flounced off back towards the main house while Joe closed the door and half crawled back into bed. He couldn't imagine what was making him feel so ill, but he was determined to try and sleep it off.

* * *

It felt like a huge chunk of his day had passed before he was finally able to get some sleep. Unfortunately he'd been woken up much too soon. More loud knocks were heard, followed by Rory's thick Irish tone.

"Joe? Y'in there? Sugar told me you're sick."

"It's open," Joe called, though he hadn't been very loud. Thankfully, Rory chanced entry anyway and poked his head in the studio-like house.

"Hey Joe," he said cheerfully but the cheer faded from his face once he came to Joe's bedside. The dread-headed brunette's face was a shade of green and his features expressed exhaust. It was the first time Rory had ever seen him look so sick.

"Man…Sugar wasn't joking—you look terrible."

"I feel terrible," groaned Joe, turning his head away from his friend.

"Maybe…I should come back some other time," Rory wondered.

"N-no…Sugar said you had some…information on my parents." Slowly, Joe moved himself up into a sitting position and rasped, "Tell me what you know."

Rory frowned, "Okay…so sources tell me that your mom broke up with that Shane guy before Valentine's Day."

"What?" Joe's eyes squinted skeptically but his uncertainty dissolved as he thought back to the way his parents were acting during Sugar's party.

"Yeah. I guess she cheated with your dad before you got here, and she kept it a secret until now. So that's probably what's been going on with her. And I…sort of eavesdropped on a conversation between Sugar's moment. Santana said that she, Brittany and some of the others in glee club were going to go up to the hospital to visit Quinn, and Sam didn't want to go—he told them he was just gonna be a downer, so he skipped out."

Joe rubbed his temples, "I don't get it. Why's my dad bummed out that my mom and that Shane guy aren't together anymore? He should be stoked if he's been trying to get with her."

Rory shrugged, "Maybe she turned him down."

"No way," Joe quickly replied. "My mom loves my dad."

"Sure, the mom you know loves your dad. But you're back here because something between them went wrong. So maybe this is what you've been looking for?" Rory grimaced, "And good thing too, 'cause I think you heading home soon would be a good idea. You _really_ don't look so good."

Joe shook his head, "I know but I'll be fine. I just need to get up and walk around." He scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up. "It's so weird…I've never felt sick like this before…"

He rested a hand on the side of his head while stepping towards the bathroom. "Rory…maybe you shou—…"

"Joe?"

Joe hadn't responded. He collapsed on the floor, hitting his head in the process. For a moment, he heard Rory frantically calling his name, but his best bud's voice faded with his consciousness.

* * *

_**Please leave reviews! I apologize for the long delay in a chapter update. I'm going to try to do my best to be more attentive to all of my fics, but I don't like to force myself to write for my fics when I'm not motivated/inspired to write for it.**_


	7. Chapter 7

"Joseph? Joseph, wake up!"

The familiar stern but slightly panicked voice sounded distant, and echoed in Joe's ears. As he slowly surfaced to consciousness, he slowly opened his eyes to a blurred surrounding, but hovering over him was the unclear, yet too clear blotched image of his father's face.

_What's Sam doing here?_ He thought to himself. _Aw hell, why would Rory call _him _of all people? Why wouldn't he call Sugar? What was he thi_—

"Son? Can you hear me?"

Joe's gradual blinking halted and his entire form went rigid. His eyes were wide as his blotchy image of his dad sharpened. Yes, this was Sam, but it wasn't the Sam he'd been seeing for the past few weeks. This Sam was far more familiar, with his slightly fuller but still youthful form, dark reddish brown facial hair and huskier voice.

_Shit_.

"Dad?" he stupidly croaked.

"Yeah, it's me—can you feel that?"

Joe definitely did feel the sudden squeeze given to his left hand. He raised his right hand—which felt like it had ten-pound weights strapped to it—and cupped it over his forehead. His vision came in and out of focus a couple more times before normalcy settled in.

"Thank God you're okay," said his dad.

Joe groaned in response—not from the pain of collapsing, which he quickly remembered. Correction, he remembered feeling as sick as a dog and talking to Rory, and he remembered walking. He did not remember ending up on the floor, or his dad being anywhere in the room.

"H—how'd you find me?" Joe wondered, still feeling a little bit disoriented.

His dad's large, strong hands pulled him slowly to sit up; a moment later he heard his dad say, "Rory, get him some water."

_Rory_, he realized, getting the answer to his question. _Of course_.

"Son what in the _hell_ were you thinking, coming here without telling us?" demanded his dad in a low, near-growl.

In the weeks Joe had spent blending into the past, he'd felt a little bit superior—advanced, if nothing else. But having his dad scold him quickly knocked him down several pegs.

"If I tell you…..You're gonna be mad if I tell you," whispered Joe.

"I'm _already_ mad. And disappointed. And concerned, and relieved. Do you know how worried sick your mom and I have been?"

"_I_ feel so sick."

"That's because you shouldn't be here," his dad sternly stated.

"I know but…Dad, you and Mom wouldn't tell me what I wanted to know, so—"

"So you came back here to find out for yourself?" Sam hissed with a vicious gaze. "Coming back to this time is dangerous for you—_all three_ of you!"

Joe's brows twitched together, "What? Why?"

"Because you three don't exist yet, here. If you were going back in time to see your _own_ pasts, you wouldn't have gotten sick like this. But you came back to a past that didn't belong to you, and this is where it's gotten you."

Right away, Joe swallowed hard; he was desperate to keep up and understand the full extent of his dad's words but all he could focus on at this moment was the throbbing headache that threatened to pull him back to unconsciousness again.

"Yeah, I um…I forgot about the times Sugar and I have gotten sick since we got here. But…I mean we both just thought it was the flu or somethin'," admitted Rory. "Neither of us collapsed or nothin'."

Joe saw his dad look above his head, "That's probably because you and Sugar have time leaped before, am I right?" When Rory didn't voice an answer, Joe could only assume that he'd nodded his response.

The haze from passing out cleared up a bit more. He looked up, shamefully at his dad, "Why wouldn't you and Mom tell me you almost didn't make it 'cause of this Shane guy?"

Sam's thick brows furrowed, "What?"

Joe fumbled around with his words, "I saw Mom with her ex-boyfriend, Shane…and you and her aren't together here…"

He watched his dad pinch the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh, "Joseph, that isn't what happened between your mom and I."

His brows twitched together, "But…I saw her and you on Valentine's D—"

"That's not what I mean," his dad curtly stated, shitting his eyes. "I know we weren't together then. I mean, you're not at the right moment in time to know what happened to us."

As soon as the words left Sam's mouth, Joe's heart momentarily stopped and his mouth fell open. All this time spent and he hadn't even gone back to the right time?

"I'll take you to the right time," said his dad. Joe could hear the reluctance in his voice but for him, it was like receiving a glass of ice water in the middle of Death Valley. The trip was fun at moments, but the drama he witnessed since Valentine's Day and the headaches experienced from not knowing what was wrong outweighed many of those happier moments.

"Get your stuff together. We're leaving," ordered his dad. "And Rory?"

Joe looked around and spotted Rory standing a short distance away, keeping to himself with a concerned look fixed on his face.

"Yes, Mr. Evans?"

"You and Sugar need to return to the present. Check in with your parents and at least tell them where you two have been disappearing off to. If they let you return, that's between you all, but I'm giving you and Sugar the opportunity to come clean now, or else I'll go to them and let them come back here and get you."

Rory blanched and even Joe felt a bit of the stunning; his Uncle Blaine had a temper when it was provoked enough, and his Aunt Santana…well…she would probably tear Sugar's hide to bits with her words alone.

"Yes sir," Rory mumbled.

So many feelings threatened to overwhelm Joe back into unconsciousness but he steeled himself and slowly rose from the floor. Above anything at the moment, he felt relieved that his dad was going to finally let him find out what he had been longing to know. But the relief was closely shadowed by fear. Even though he didn't know what it was, there was a reason for his parents keeping him in the dark on this and he wasn't absolutely certain he was prepared to know it.

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_**Please leave reviews! Sorry this update was so short. I know people have been enjoying seeing how our future Samcedes child's adventure chronicled the events of canon Joe, but this is where the story's going to jump off the tracks a bit. Hope you'll stay interested because I've got some more in store for Mr. Joseph Evans. ;)**_


	8. Chapter 8

The pull at his core from traveling through time again was just as sharp and sudden as his initial trip to the past. This time when he arrived, his dad was there to support him before he could stumble to his knees. Joe's feet hit solid ground and his dad's strong hand steadied his shoulder and then asked, "You okay?"

Joe nodded and looked around, instantly recognizing the familiar baubles and oddities in his family's basement where the time machine also was housed. Immediately his brows furrowed. "Um…Dad, I thought you were showing me what happened with you and Mom?"

"I am, but not now. I told you your mom's been worried sick about you. Do you really think I'm gonna keep her from seeing you any sooner than I have to?"

Comprehension took its time to cross Joe's face but he followed his dad upstairs. As soon as his dad pushed the creaky basement door open, Joe heard a gasp, followed by his mother's voice, "Did you find him, Sam?"

"He's here with me," replied his dad.

Not one second later, quick, solid footsteps darted towards them and his mom's face appeared before his eyes. She hadn't aged dramatically from the woman he'd been spending time with back in 2012. Her fondness for weaves hadn't left but she tended to wear her hair shorter compared to her high school days, and there was a growth in her maturity. It wasn't something that was necessarily seen, but rather it was felt, just from being in her presence.

One thing Joe missed terribly were his mother's fierce hugs—which she was now obliging him with. Ever since he was little, her hugs had a way of easing him, no matter what he was going through. And when he was a boy, she pulled him into her arms and gently rocked him from side to side. Now he was more than a whole head taller than her, but her arms still felt like the most secure place in the world.

"Oh my God, Joe are you insane? What were you thinking taking off like that without telling us? Do you know how worried your dad and I were? How long did you think that hologram of yourself was going to pass? No hugs from you? No eating dinner? We thought you were sick!"

She fussed on and Joe repeatedly squeezed, "I'm sorry" in but his mind was anxiously chewing on the secret trip he and his dad would be taking later. Whatever 'later' meant.

"I told you we should sell that time travel thing, Sam," scolded Mercedes as she pulled Joe away to have a good look at him—cupping his cheek and picking a piece of lint from his shirt.

Sam shrugged, pulling his rectangular framed glasses from their case and slipping them over his eyes. "It's been helpful when I forget where I put stuff. Besides, I didn't think Joseph was gonna use it to sneak off."

"Well thank God I wasn't off on tour when all this happened. I would've been on the first flight home but still…Joe, don't do that again, young man."

Joe nodded, "I'm sorry, Mom. Really, I wasn't trying to scare you. I just…I just wanted answers."

His mom nodded once, "I understand that, but lying and sneaking off wasn't the way to get your answers."

"But you and Dad wouldn't t—" he stopped when he caught the warning glare from his dad. With a resigned sigh, he said, "You're right. I really am sorry, but can I please go lay down? I've been feeling really sick today."

Mercedes frowned at him, "Yeah, go lie down but don't think this means you're out of a punishment, young man."

Joe loped off to his room with his things and as soon as he was back in his own, familiar space, he collapsed on the bed with his head on the pillows. It took him no time at all to fall asleep and when he awoke again, it was late. The trip back home had been somewhat long, not to mention the lengthy lecture he'd received from his dad before they left Rory in the past.

He felt groggy at first, but the moment he remembered his dad's promise, he felt much more a awake and started to head out of his room. His nauseating sickness had left him and now he felt finally ready to know what had happened between his parents. Upon reaching their bedroom door to knock, his hand hesitated when he heard his mom sharply state, "We can sit down and tell him together, Sam!"

"No, Mercedes. Look you and I have kept this from him for a long time and he wants answers—otherwise he's just gonna run off to the past again. He wants to_ see_ for himself."

"So what? He's a child! We're the parents so we don't need to give him every single thing he wants."

"I think we owe him this much," his dad sternly stated.

There was a stretch of silence before his mom spoke again. Her tone was so quiet coming through the door that he almost didn't hear her say, "He's not gonna forgive us, Sam."

"Yes he will. He'll forgive you if anything, Merce. But I promise, I'll keep a close eye on him so he can see enough to understand, and then we'll come back."

Another long stretch of wordlessness passed. Joe's heart was thumping—he thought his parents might hear, but all that happened was he heard a faint smacking sound that sounded like they'd kissed, followed by his mom murmuring, "Be careful."

"I will. We will."

Joe's eyes widened and he quickly backed away from the door as quietly as possible. He scurried back in his room and promptly sat on his bed, pretending to be strapping his sandals on when his dad appeared in his entrance.

"Good, you're up. How'd you sleep?"

Joe shrugged, "Pretty good. So are we going tonight?"

His dad gave him one stern nod, "Grab your winter coat."

"But it's not that cold—"

"Maybe not here, but we're going to my past. Trust me—you're gonna want your coat."

The anxious flutter at the pit of Joe's stomach returned with the fluttering of a hummingbird's wings. He went to his closet and took out a thick, fleece-lined brown coat, draped it over his shoulder and followed his dad, who was already wearing a red flannel print winter coat and a grey beanie. Thankfully they weren't leaving the house where no one might see them. According to the calendar in the kitchen, it was still June here; wearing winter coats in Columbus in the middle of summer was bound to get you some stares.

They went to the basement and Joe watched his dad mess with the machine, typing in dates and places until it was time for them to go. His dad grabbed two returning devices for them as Joe stepped inside, and in a matter of seconds, they were being yanked through time. The second their feet met solid ground, Joe felt the bite from the frigid winter air which was enough to rush him into his winter coat. His dad, on the other hand, gravely eased into his own coat but once both his hands were threaded through the sleeves, he ushered Joe up the sidewalk. Joe's brows furrowed, "Where are we?"

"Lima," his dad mumbled. "See that house over there?"

Joe followed his dad's pointer finger to a somewhat large estate with 3 cars in the driveway and only a couple lights on inside. Every house on the block adorned their home with lights on the outside, however. Christmas lights were strung up and a couple houses had reindeer and nativity sets on their lawns and roves. But the house his dad was pointing to had a pristine line of bulbs hanging across the first and second story gutter edges.

"You and I…we'll need to go over there right now. We'll stay low near the side of the house so we're not seen but you'll be able to hear what happens."

Joe nodded and followed his dad, who began hustling down and across the street until they were sitting low behind the convenient cover of a shrub with plenty of hard, bare twigs and branches. If Joe looked through the right path, he could see a peephole of the front door; another path threw the branches showed him a view at the street where a pair of headlights appeared. The truth that arrived on the block pulled up to the house they were hiding in front of, and once the engine quieted and the driver's door opened, Joe's eyes widened slightly at what he saw.

His dad—only not his dad—stepped out, carrying a small teddy bear with a blue bow around its neck, under his arm. What made Joe's brows furrow, however, was that the embodiment of his dad that he was currently spying on looked surprisingly similar to the version of his dad whom he sat with at God Squad meetings.

"When was this?" Joe whispered.

His dad gripped his shoulder in warning and when Joe tuned back to look at him, he had a finger over his lips. In the lowest of whispers, his dad muttered, "Christmas Even, my senior year in high school."

For a second, Joe did the math in his head; they were now watching a moment that occurred less than 7 months after Spring Break, when he'd been there…

Knock, knock, knock.

Joe's eyes averted to his first bush peephole and watched his teenage dad rock on his heels and shove his hands in his coat pockets, staring sternly at the ground. Joe recognized these nervous mannerisms—in fact he had inherited a lot of them himself. But what was his dad nervous about? Just as he was about to turn around to ask, the front door swung open. Whoever answered hadn't stepped outside, but Sam identified them anyway.

"H-hi…Mercedes."

If his teenage mom said anything back, Joe certainly didn't hear it. Instead he hweard more of his dad's voice.

"Can we talk? Please?"

"You're talking right now."

Joe tucked his lips in his mouth; he already had a feeling their conversation wasn't going to be pleasant but he hadn't expected his mom to be so short with his dad like that.

Sam sighed, "Okay….how are you?"

"Never better," she curtly replied.

"Mercedes, come on."

"Come on, what? What do you want me to say, Sam?"

"I don't know—just...please can we talk in private or something. Can you step out here for a minute?"

His mom's answers remained impatient and angry but the next words out of her mouth made Joe's eyes bug. "I doubt that'd be good for the baby."

_Baby?_ Joe loudly thought. He'd nearly spoken it aloud but too much of him was interested in listening.

"I won't keep you long, I promise. Just please give me like….two minutes and then I'll leave you alone so you can enjoy Christmas with your family."

He heard the desperation in his dad's younger self; Joe turned around to see his dad intentionally avoiding his gaze. His suspicion and confusion was rising but he turned back around to stare through the twig-riddled peephole, just as his mom stepped outside. Joe's eyes widened again when he saw his mom with a small but unmistakable baby bump. He would have kept his gaze wide and stunned had it not been for the chilly winter breeze that was now making his eyes water. He blinked several times and rubbed his eyes, and then resumed his attentive watching and listening.

"What do you want, Sam?"

"I wanted to apologize. We haven't really talked much since Thanksgiving…since you told me about…y'know…"

"The baby? Me being pregnant? You being a father? Why is any of that so hard for you to say?"

"Because! I'm still freaked out, Mercedes. I'm sorry, but I am. I mean we only had sex once this summer—"

Mercedes rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest, "Maybe you need to take sex ed again because one time is all it takes."

"We were careful," Sam feebly argued.

"Not careful enough apparently!" fussed Mercedes. "Look I'm not gonna stand out here and dance around the birds and the bees with you. Apology accepted. Can I go now?"

"No!" Sam blurted out and then immediately looked regretful. "Sorry…no, I just….I really wanted to see you. Besides, my two minutes aren't up yet."

His attempt to lighten the mood fell on deaf ears as Mercedes turned to grab the doorknob. But Sam grabbed her hand to stop her. "Mercedes, wait."

"Do you want to be in his life?"

Her question clearly took Sam by surprise. His hand was still over hers but he froze, and then took a slow step back. "His?"

"Yes, it's a boy. Do you want to be in his life?"

A boy, thought Joe. It wasn't hard for him to put the pieces together. He was 15 and his parents were both in their mid 30's. Unless they stashed away some older brother of his that he never knew about, then that would mean the baby they were currently arguing over…

"I don't know, Mercedes. I just…It's my senior year and I don't know if I'm ready."

It had been the wrong thing to say to Mercedes. She lowered her hand from the doorknob slowly while simultaneously yanking her other hand from his grasp. "You don't know if you're _ready_? You don't know if you're ready? Do you think I was ready to come back from LA, lose my contract and prepare to be a mom?" When Sam said nothing she went on, "Do you think I was ready to strain my relationship with my parents because of what we did? Do you think for one minute that I was ready to have you freak out and practically walk away from our relationship after I told you I was pregnant? Sam, I honestly thought you were better than that. It was too much to think you might grow to be happy like I have but I thought you'd at least be trying to be supportive and trying to raise this baby since _we_ made him."

Joe couldn't move. He couldn't speak and he was struggling to hear everything his mom was saying.

"But you seem to have made your plans pretty clear and you know what? If this is how you feel then fine—I'll learn to accept it and raise this baby without you. But I need to know now. I'm not going to do this back-and-forth game of you deciding to be here one day, and then you deciding to freak out and bail another." Her voice was trembling with the forming tears, "I can't put myself through this and I won't put my son through having a dad that might try to forge a relationship with him, here and there down the road. You can't be a dad when you feel like it, just like I can't stop being pregnant when I don't feel like it. So you need to tell me right now."

Despite his dad still being directly behind him, Joe felt like he was crouched there by himself. His dad was so quiet and still…

Joe was biting on his lip so hard, he was close to breaking the skin with his teeth, waiting to hear his dad apologize again and tell his mom that he was going to get there—that he was going to go to all the appointments with her and be a present dad.

"I'm sorry, Mercedes…" Sam started to say.

Joe's heart thumped loudly in his ears with anticipation, only to momentarily stop when he heard.

"I can't…I'm not ready for this. With school, trying to work at Burt's auto shop and all that…I just…can't raise a baby too."

Though Joe's eyes started to fill with excess moisture, he could still see the heartbroken look on his mom's face, which quickly vanished when she steeled herself.

"Okay," she whispered.

_Okay?_ Thought Joe.

"Okay?" echoed Sam.

Mercedes nodded, "I'm not gonna bother you anymore, Sam. I'm not going to ask you for anything; I'm not going to talk to you anymore , and I don't want to see you anymore. Most of all, I'm not gonna force you to be something that you're obviously not, so…" she sniffled and quickly swiped a hand beneath her eyes, while her other hand quickly opened the front door again. "You have a good Christmas, Sam. Drive safe to Kentucky and…good luck with the rest of your senior year."

Sam wasn't even looking at her as she said all of this. When the door closed on him, he finally looked up again and opened his mouth, but was clearly too late to say anything.

"Knock on the damn door!" hissed Joe. His dad's hand gripped his shoulder hard in warning again, but Joe shrugged him off. He was getting read to stand up and abandon his hiding spot to urge Sam back to the front door, but his dad yanked him back down by the scruff of his coat, forcing Joe to watch his dad's younger self lope back to his truck, crestfallen. As soon as the truck roared to life, Joe jerked himself free of his dad's strong grip and burned a white hot glare at him.

"You left Mom while she was pregnant with me…" his tone was the polar opposite of his fire-charged features. In fact, the words only barely left his lips.

"There's more to it than that, Joseph," Sam whispered back. "I'll take you t—"

"No," Joe snapped through gritted teeth, finding some his fire. "I don't want you taking me anywhere. I'm taking myself home."

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_**Please leave reviews! A little more is coming! Just a few more chapters left for the Joe Evans Adventure. :) What did you think of Sam and Mercedes' secret from their son? Anything about it surprise you? I'll go into a little more about it in the next chapter.**_


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